


always the one you call

by bytheseas



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Light Angst, One Shot, Protective Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24200692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bytheseas/pseuds/bytheseas
Summary: David spends much of his life taking care of Alexis, or worrying about her, because no one else seems to be paying attention.Some glimpses into the lives of the Rose siblings before they found themselves in Schitt's Creek.
Relationships: Alexis Rose & David Rose
Comments: 22
Kudos: 73





	always the one you call

**Author's Note:**

> Found the drafts of this on my phone, and decided to finish it. Inspired by one of my fave episodes, Driving Test.

When his new sister comes home for the first time, David decides he doesn’t want her. 

  
He’s five years old and up to now his world has mostly been him and his father and his mother and the nannies that come in and out and seem new by the day.

  
It’s not even his mother who introduces them. It’s a nanny who pulls him aside and tells him to sit on the couch so she can help him hold his new sister. Alexis squirms and cries and David shrieks and runs to tell his mother that they should send her back to the hospital.

He avoids her after that, until one night a few months later, when she won’t stop crying. He tries to ignore it, like he usually does, but the nanny must not be listening because the baby keeps crying, and David can’t sleep with all of that noise. Eventually, he gives in and heads down the hall to the nursery. 

He reaches into her bassinet and he picks her up, and he sits down because she’s heavy and he’s still small. She curls into him, settling down almost immediately. He holds one of her chubby hands in his, and he feels rather proud that he’s the reason why she stopped crying. 

He comes to visit her every night, after that, holding her, the two of them folded into a giant rocking chair, left to their own devices in the middle of the night.

Maybe this is what it feels like to love someone other than himself. 

\----

“I had a nightmare.”

It’s well after midnight. David shields his eyes from the sudden light, courtesy of a little sister who is currently shining a flashlight in his face. 

“Go tell mom about it,” he tells her. 

“I  _ tried _ ,” she looks tired, more tired than a five-year-old should look. “I think we played sleepy mommy for too long today. She wouldn’t move.”

“Find Nanny, then.”

“It’s her night off.”

David groans and lifts the covers. “Turn off the light and get in here.”

He catches the sight of her toothless smile before she turns off the light and climbs up, scooting closer to him, under the covers. A cold foot touches his leg. 

  
“Stay on your side,” he tells her. They’ve been here enough times that she has a side on the huge king sized bed. 

“Okay,” she mumbles, as she scoots away and cuddles into her pillow, closing her eyes. 

He watches until he knows she’s asleep, and then he drifts off.

\----

Alexis groans when she sees David at the door of her hospital room. “Why are  _ you _ here.” 

  
“Because mom’s away at a retreat, and dad doesn’t pick up his phone,” David strides in and hovers near her bed. She looks like shit, with bruises in various places on her body. Her leg is wrapped in a cast. 

It’s been a while since they’ve gotten along. David doesn’t know exactly how it happened. Maybe he got busy and stopped paying attention. Maybe she started resenting him for trying to tell her what to do. Instructions are bad enough coming from a parent when you’re a teenager, nevermind an older brother.

“I’m  _ sixteen _ , I don’t understand why they won’t let me leave on my own,” Alexis groans.    
  


“Because you’re not an adult, so you can’t sign the papers,” David shoots back. “And you broke your  _ leg _ . How did  _ this _ happen?” He motions exaggeratedly, gesturing up and down over her body. 

He’s angry and he’s scared and he kind of wants to cry but there’s no way he’s letting that happen. 

Alexis has always been fearless, to the point of being careless with her own safety. And maybe it’s because David has always been there to catch her. She’s always had him as a safety net.

  
There’s no one to catch him if he falls, so he tries not to give the world a chance to hurt him.

Chances are for people who have someone to fall back on. 

“I just got a little drunk, and fell down an escalator, it’s not like, a big deal,” Alexis picks at the sheet on her bed, avoiding looking at her brother. 

“Yeah, it  _ is _ a big deal. You could have broken more than your leg.” David sits down in the chair next to her. 

  
“Well I didn’t,” is all she says, and he sighs. 

She leaves the country, after that, and things only get worse from there. 

\----

“Babe, why are we  _ still here _ .” Sebastien groans exaggeratedly, sliding down in his chair. 

  
“I told you not to come,” David reminds him. 

“I don’t get what the big deal is,” Sebastien goes on, ignoring him. “She’s a big girl, she will figure it out.”

“You can’t just  _ figure out  _ an international hostage situation,” David runs a hand through his hair, agitated. He feels like he’s worn thin, and near the end of his rope. Last week he was here sending Alexis copies of her passport. Today he’s sending her colored contacts, at the request of a very cryptic phone message he received at four in the morning. 

The fucked up part is, he’s the only one who ever seems worried about the messes Alexis gets into. His parents are so focused on their own lives, they don’t pay attention when he tries to tell them. Alexis treats everything like it’s no big deal -- like everything can be quickly explained away. She thinks she’s invincible. The few times she shows up at home, she acts like her life is fine. 

It’s definitely  _ not _ fine. 

“Just go,” David tells Sebastien. 

“Alright, catch ya later,” Sebastien picks up his camera and he’s out the door. 

\----

All of a sudden, their whole lives are taken from them.

David watches the chaos as people wind through the hallways of the only home he has ever known, taking everything. 

He’s scared and he’s pissed and he hates everything and everyone. 

But as he falls asleep on his little bed, he hears the sounds of his sister settling into the bed next to his, and there’s something calming about it.

For the first night in a long time, he doesn’t have to worry about where she is, or if she’s safe.

Maybe there’s one benefit to being here. 

**Author's Note:**

> [you can find me here](https://aziraphalescrowley.tumblr.com/)


End file.
